You’ve got your medical practice website up, you’ve even spent some money on SEO (search engine optimization), you were happy to see your site show up in a Google search on page 1 or even page 2 …  and suddenly your medical practice website is nowhere to be seen!

What happened?

In March 2011, Google altered its algorithm for search results (a guy named Panda who works at Google came up with this concept, hence the name).

I urge you to watch this video, especially if you’re considering building a website for your medical practice or physician business or upgrading your current website, in order to avoid making some fundamental mistakes.

It’s also important, when hiring a website designer and/or webmaster that you sign up somebody who has some knowledge about this topic. This video should help you speak some updated SEO language with the person who’s going to do this work for you. And if they’re clueless … this might be your hint to look for someone who’s more up-to-date!

Some time ago, I launched my Physicians Website Secrets Program. Some of you took a brief look at it (or maybe even spent a moment or two thinking about it), but for many of you, either it didn’t register at the time, or you had no need for it.

As with anything on the Internet, there is a learning curve and a certain amount of experimentation to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

I discovered that asking you to fork over $5.00 for a CD containing secrets to creating an effective medical practice or physician business website wasn’t worth it to many of you. It meant you had to go to your wallet, haul out your credit card, and fill in all those  fields, all for a lousy $5 payment. I suspect it wasn’t the cost as much as the EFFORT involved in exchange for something that you didn’t know yet might (or might not) be worth your time.

Because I was asking you to trust me with your credit card information BEFORE you’d had an opportunity to evaluate what the program could do for you, the program didn’t do as well as I hoped it would.

Mistake.

This time round, I want to do something different. I still want to share my Number One Secret about websites with you, because I passionately believe in this, and I really want you to avoid the errors made by so many early physician entrepreneurs or even seasoned medical practice owners (and that I made when I was getting going with my physician coaching business). So I AM asking you to enter your name and e-mail address, just this once, to get access to that secret.

But once you’ve gotten my Number One Secret (you may find this one surprising, as it’s not what most of you DO!!), you’ll hopefully discover that I’ve made you more valuable offer. One that will not cost you a penny, and that will give you the chance to test drive the Physicians Website Secrets Program by accessing the first Module in its entirety!

And I’m adding some bonuses, so that even if you decide that this program isn’t for you, you’ll walk away with some really solid information to help you prop up an ailing website, or start afresh with one that’s truly healthy and vibrant

If you’re curious, if the time feels right, go to Physicians Website Secrets, enter your name and e-mail, and you’ll be given immediate access to the link that will permit you to sample this treasure trove of insights and learning I’ve distilled down into the Physicians Website Secrets Program.

I look forward to being as helpful as I possibly can – I really want you to enjoy some of the “Internet success” that I have in my business!

During the planning stage of your copywriting for your medical practice website or your physician business website, you need to understand exactly what it is you hope your website to accomplish.

• Do you want the visitor to contact you to learn about becoming a patient, or a client?
• Do you want to sell something?
• Or invite your visitors to become members of something?
• Or download something of value to them so that they begin to perceive your medical practice or physician business as their solution?

Perhaps you have already determined that you need to build a subscriber base, circulate information, increase practice revenues by growing your numbers of patients.  But in order to accomplish these differing (and not mutually exclusive!) goals, you must make sure that your web copy will support your efforts.

1. Decide who your ideal customers are and what they really want.  Then find and craft the words that will most effectively bring these people to your site.  Include your best keywords and keyword phrases.

2. Create a plan. Without a detailed plan, it will become impossible to know whom you are targeting.  Without a target, you are likely to miss out on those people who are willing and eager to pay for your help and expertise.

3. Realize that your target audience is typically smarter and more knowledgeable than the average visitor to a website. Now that you have started planning, you need to start looking at whom to target.

Targeting is used to figure out what group of customers will have the problems that can be solved by using your particular service or product.  It is therefore vital that you become an expert in not only your target market, but also in knowing every single benefit that your service or product offers.

Once you determine whom you need to target, you can begin to search them out.  Build a profile of those people who will benefit from your help the most.  Once you know who they are and what problems they want solved or desires they need satisfied, then address your writing directly to them, using the most magnetic of the benefits your service or product can offer as “bait”. To discover what these Benefits are, ask your current happy patients or clients. They’ll tell you!

What do you value most/love best about our medical practice?
What made you choose me/us as your XYZ person?
What keeps you coming back?

At last, you have found your target audience, and now you must develop a strategy for writing your copy.  In order to do this, the best way is to do the following:

1.    Write about what the customer wants to hear – answer their – use  WIIFM question (What’s In It For Me?).
2.    Create the tone that is inviting to those you’re targeting, using their language.
3.    Present your idea(s) simply and concisely.

Get writing!

Related articles

• 5 ways to improve your medical practice in 2011 (kevinmd.com)
• Is Web Copy Ruining Your Design? (sixrevisions.com)

Many a medical practice website should be retired to website heaven.

Why?

Because they are completely ineffective at doing what you, the physician business owner are paying for your website to do — invite more business to your medical practice! And thereby boost your bottom line.

And one of the biggest culprits is lousy copy. (That’s the fancy term for all that writing on your website).

It is vitally important to know that people do not read a website in the same way that they would read printed material.  In fact, there are three characteristics which affect how a web user will react to the online content of a site.

1. Immediately obvious benefit. It is important to remember that web users are active, not passive.  If they can’t find a compelling reason for staying on a site (the answer to their search query!), then they will leave it.  Sometimes a person will leave in less than 3 seconds after they have arrived on the page.

2. Concise evocative language. If your paragraphs are too long, or your words are too dense, the visitor is less likely to read it.

3. Believability. So much of the web visitor’s experience is characterized by overstated claims and “hype”. If you want a web user to believe what you have to say, you must be able to back up your claims, with testimonials, case studies and anecdotes.

One of the most important reasons why copywriting for the web is different is the different mindset of the web page visitor.

Internet Copywriting vs. Traditional Copywriting

More often than not, web pages will be found via a search engine.  This is very significant, as it means that the person landing on your website has been looking either for you or for someone like you.  That puts the visitor in control – they are focused on finding a particular product, service or piece of information.

Anyone visiting your site for the first time, who has found it via a search engine, will have a few questions in mind.
“Have I come to the right place?”
“Will I find what I’m looking for at this page or site?”
“Can I can complete my task at this point?”

You need to answer these questions in both your headline or title, and any sub-headlines or sub-titles on the page.  You need to be able to secure a response from this first time visitor immediately.

Your writing must provide reassurance that the visitor is going to find exactly what they are looking for. Your web copy should encourage your visitors that they are have come to the right place, and that they should continue to read on.

In order for any web copy to be effective, it must take into account the three characteristics mentioned above.

Now, go back to your website and take a long, hard look!

Will yours pass the 3-second blink test??

Related articles

• Online Business Promotion That Works: SEO, Copywriting and Social Media (searchenginejournal.com)
• A few Quick Tips in SEO Copywriting (mt-soft.com.ar)
• Scott Meis: SEO 101: Choosing good keywords (websitehelpers.com)

Is your medical practice website or physician business website performing well?

How would you know?

Until a few years ago, my response to this question would have been “huh?” I had no idea what a website should and could do, other than that it should have some information about my business, so that anyone who wanted to surreptitiously check me out could do so. And my website was supposed to make my visitor want to sign up right away as a client. “Yay – this is just what I was looking for!”

Somewhere along the way, as I was trying to learn more about marketing my entrepreneurial physician business (that’s another story – what a whole new set of “aha’s” that opened up for me!), I became aware of what websites are supposed to do for businesses.

Bring in MORE BUSINESS!

Mine wasn’t there just to reassure folks who already knew about me, that I was a physician coach and could lay claim to some training. It was to allow me to be discovered by someone who didn’t have a clue that I or my physician coaching business existed and who happened to be in front of a computer at 2 AM looking for something. A solution to a pressing problem. The chance to scratch an itch that had been plaguing them. Some needed information on a topic of interest.

My physician business website needed to provide the inviting “Open Door” to a relationship that my business could create with that curious “Seeker” of information and solutions. I shouldn’t imagine selling my wares immediately. Instead, I should become a useful resource and “friend” to my prospective clients, by using the Internet and the power of automation to cultivate and nurture relationships that could eventually pay off.

This huge insight led me to redesign not only my website but my whole approach to the business and and marketing of my physician coaching practice.

And if I dare to imagine life as a family physician had I remained in practice and used what I now know about medical practice websites, I picture a very different experience as a physician business owner. I picture myself with a website that speaks clearly to my intended patients, revealing who I am in a video, making my philosophy clear, articulating my Unique Selling Proposition (a fancy marketing term for answering the question  – “Why should I be itnersted in your practice or business?”), using the website as a teaching tool, and leveraging the Internet to perform some of my practice’s essential operations, thereby freeing up employee time, or even cutting labor costs!

It’s what lots of other savvy businesses do. Why shouldn’t your medical practice or physician business be creative and do the same?

Which brings up my question for you:

What is your number one question about getting your medical practice website or physician business website to perform better (i.e. bring in more business and/or generate more revenue)?

If you’ll answer this in the comments section below, I promise to provide as many answers as I can!

Want to make sure that your medical practice website shows up on the first page of Google?

This three-minute video direct from the mouth of the Google-god is an excellent overview of what you need to pay attention to in order to ensure that your medical practice website gets indexed by the search engines. This, in turn, means that your website will be presented to the searcher on the first page, if you’ve paid attention to details such as:

• your choice of keywords and keyword phrases
  
• where you’ve placed those keywords on the pages
• your URL
• your “page rank” or “authority” (as determined by algorithm) based on the numbers of links back to your site from other authoritative sites.

Not sure what this all means and how to apply it to your medical practice website?

Try the Physicians Websites Secrets program here.

Related articles

• Are you keeping up with Google? (searchengineguide.com)
• New Local Opportunities: How To Rank Higher In Google Place Search (searchengineland.com)

Do you want to grow your medical practice or physician business? Yes?

A 21st-century approach to attracting new patients or clients is to leverage the power of Internet marketing. Now before you curl up your lip in a sneer at the thought of “medical practice marketing”, consider this option.

How would you like to be perceived as a Expert in your field? I bet that feels more comfortable.

How then would your potential patients or clients uncover your expertise?

There’s a simple answer, available at your fingertips right away. You can use article marketing and social media marketing to get the attention of the exact audience you are trying to reach. These two techniques go very well hand-in-hand.

Start by writing articles about everything you know – you may be surprised how many people find you on social media sites. Use words in your articles that are key to that market and post your articles on popular articles sites such as Ezinearticles.com

Here’s how this works:

1. Ask people what they want to hear about. They will tell you.

2. Pay attention to what your clients or patients are asking or telling you in their interactions with you.

3. This will influence what you write about and help connect you to what they they are listening for.

4. Do your research, offer a valuable opinion, explain, advocate — do whatever it is you do best, and begin writing.

You will be perceived as an Expert in no time, with the reach and power of the Internet.

These days, everyone you need to reach is already online. Even if services are exclusively offered to seniors. Because the reality is that most seniors have family members who are desperately trying to find resources for them, and who tend to be computer-literate as well.

Reach out and become a familiar figure for your potential patients or clients. Offer something free and valuable and then use an opt-in box to get people to sign up to receive your “freebie” and your future communications.

To talk about your specific services without seeming boastful, self-aggrandizing or too “markety”, share stories and case studies. But be careful how you do this – be very cognizant of how you protect the privacy of anyone you’re talking about

To increase your Internet exposure, follow colleagues or other experts through their blogs and sites. Add  comments with your thoughtful observations, questions or opinions. Not only are you adding value to their site but you are also getting those valuable links back to yours, if you’re able to leave your URL on the site. This is the “social” of social media marketing.

The final touch is to share your article or blog post via some of the more popular social media marketing sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Related articles

• 6 Signs (for Physicians) that Social Media is Not for You (33charts.com)

Image via Wikipedia

I’m going boldly on the record to say that any medical practice without a website in the 21st century is like a rotary phone clunker in the era of sleek smart phones!

Now, some of you may argue that you’re doing perfectly fine thank you, and a medical practice website is a complete waste of time. And I will argue right back that even if your practice is as full as you can be, I bet you’re leaving money on the table, and if money is not your motivator, I bet you’re serving fewer people than you could be if you were doing it right.

Let me explain my thinking.

The best way to do this is to talk about what a medical practice website looks like when it’s done right.

• the website content is written in patient friendly language
• it’s easy to navigate and find what you’re looking for
• the website is constructed on a platform that makes it simple for the physicians and/or designated people within the practice to go in and add content on a regular basis. This should be done by people who are both willing and committed!
• the physicians’ bios are accompanied by recent welcoming photographs, and written in an inviting style, including comments of a less formal nature, perhaps about their interests outside of the practice, their volunteer activities, their Peace Corps years, their passion for cooking, their recent cycle race, etc.
• the practices hours, location, parking, and policies (e.g. payment, handling of e-mail, preauthorization, billing etc.) are clearly described, again in patient friendly language
• there is a blog or article section that is updated at least two times a week with news and tidbits about the practice, updates from the doctors, and timely articles that speak to the issues brought in on a regular basis by the patients. Each article is able to be “liked” on Facebook
• the practice has an accompanying Facebook Page, and every new article that is added to the website is also added to the Facebook Page
• the physicians have trained themselves to take note of what is currently on the minds of their patients, and which are the same old questions that patients keep asking. These items should form the basis of the regular communications and updates on the Facebook Page and the practice’s blog. This not only keeps patients informed, but frees up much of the practice time from being swamped with repetitive questions that are easily answered in a “group communication”

In other words your medical practice website, with its accompanying social media presence, has the capacity to act as:

• your first line of defense against many of those hundreds of phone calls that clog up your telephone system each week
• a communicator about what’s going on
• an educator
• a time-saver for the doctor

… and be doing so at 2 AM while you’re trying to get a good night’s sleep!

When do you plan to put your website to work?

I received this inquiry recently about branding and how to name a medical practice. Since it is a good question, and one that many of you may have, I decided to respond via a blog post.

“What if you’re branding a physicians group where the brand must supersede the individual physician names?

In my area, physicians are known for being in Premier Radiology, Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance, Vanderbilt Medical Group.

Any thoughts on the pluses and minuses of brand versus individual physician name?”

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An excellent summary article on how to optimize your website for the search engines , that was published on American Express’s Open Forum in late June this year, highlights why paying attention to certain details in the set up and content of your medical practice website will produce a big payoff.

But first, what is SEM (search engine marketing)?

The article defines Search Engine Marketing as

…a complex topic that focuses on search engine optimization (SEO), but also includes the use of paid advertising and contextual advertisements in order to bring a website’s articles or product pages to the top of search engine result pages (SERPs)

Which leads us to the next question – what is SEO?

SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

In a nutshell, the article’s top 5 tips for you to produce great SEM results include:

1. Get to know what SEO is, and what is needed to optimize your website.  This is not as hard as knowing all the current best drugs for disease conditions! There’s a link to a great free e-book, and you can learn more by signing up for your freebies at Physician Website Secrets
2. Figure out your website’s grade – the article explains how!
3. Fix the little things quickly. Give your webmaster a list of the things you want attended to ASAP. Which things? you ask. The ones the free book and the Physician Website Secrets  program will teach you about!
4. Use plug-ins that do the work for you. The article mentions a couple. The one I use (am using this as I write right now!) is called SEO Scribe (A) – super easy and very educational!
5. Get inbound links – these are links coming to your website. They can come from others writing about or quoting you and linking to your website, your comments on other blogs in which you “leave” your website’s URL on another site, writing a review on a site such as Amazon once you have created a profile with your own URL.

What few tweaks can you make to your medical practice website to show up on page 1 of the search engine results?